I think most amateurs dread playing a 180-plus-yard par 3 even more than a hard par 4. Part of it is psychological: You think you should be getting a breather, distance-wise, and instead, you get hit with a long iron or hybrid shot over trouble.
The least thing upset him on the links. He missed short putts because of the uproar of the butterflies in the adjoining meadows.
I don't think golf has ever been any pressure as far as having to succeed.
Addressing a golf ball would seem to be a simple matter; that is, to the uninitiated who cannot appreciate that a golf ball can hold more terrors than a spacious auditorium packed with people.
Relax? How can anybody relax and play golf? You have to grip the club, don't you?
I don't fear death, but I sure don't like those three-footers for par.
Putting affects the nerves more than anything. I would actually get nauseated over three-footers.
Miss a putt for $2,000? Not likely!
Golfers are the greatest worriers in the world of sport.
The golf ball has no sense at all, which is why it has to be given stern lectures constantly, especially during the act of putting.
In my case what happened next in 1999 was that I fell apart over that back nine. When I saw I was in genuine contention that year I felt like throwing up. That remains probably the most nervous I've ever been on a golf course.
The funny part is I feel like somebody is stalking me, like, at my local course and sizing up my game.
If I'm on my way to play a round of golf there is an anxiety in me, a feeling of 'I can't lose today.'
Putting allows the touchy golfer two to four opportunities to blow a gasket in the short space of two to forty feet.
Most nervous I've ever been is probably the 2007 Walker Cup. I was a little boy playing with these 8 or 9 other guys that were the best amateurs in the country.
The first time I played the Masters, I was so nervous I drank a bottle of rum before I teed off. I shot the happiest 83 of my life.
I shot a wild elephant in Africa thirty yards from me, and it didn't hit the ground until it was right at my feet. I wasn't a bit scared. But a four foot putt scares me to death.
The three things I fear most in golf are lightning, Ben Hogan and a downhill putt.
The best thing about golf is ultimately what it teaches you about yourself. And the worst thing is how freakin' nervous it can make you feel.
Going into my first Ryder Cup, my big fear was that I would contribute nothing to the team and that we'd lose.
I've gotten rid of the yips four times but they hang in there. You know those two-foot downhill putts with a break? I'd rather see a rattlesnake.
My constant prayer, these days, as I start my backswing is, 'Oh, please let me swing slowly.' The trouble is that sometimes I wonder whether I swing at all; whether I am not strictly a chopper.
I was way more nervous on the opening day of the Ryder Cup than the first round of any major. Every Ryder Cup match is like being in the last group on Sunday in a major.
As a golfer, you feel like you're perpetually on the rack [in foursomes]. Mentally, it's very difficult.
People think I can really play golf, but it's actually been almost an albatross for me. I really struggle not only to break 80, but sometimes to break 90.
